1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a computer program product for registering address information of users who use an IP telephone function with a server apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Network access authentication protocols such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1X and the Protocol for Carrying Authentication for Network Access (PANA) are widely known as protocols used for granting access to a certain network system to authenticated terminals only.
In accordance with the IEEE 802.1X standard (hereinafter, “802.1X authentication”), port-based authentication and access grant is conducted onto a connected device. The 802.1X authentication is usually conducted between an infrastructure switch and a device directly connected to the switch.
JP-A 2006-352468 (KOKAI) suggests a technology of granting access to all the terminals that are connected by way of a switch or the like to a port that satisfies the IEEE 802.1X standard, by providing the 802.1X authentication to any one of the terminals.
JP-A 2006-67057 suggests a technology of providing individual terminals with the 802.1X authentication and access grant based on their MAC addresses when multiple terminals are connected to a port that satisfies the IEEE 802.1X standard by way of a switch or the like.
Recently, an IP telephone system has been widely known in which a telephone network is realized on the IP network by use of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The SIP is a signaling procedure positioned between communication devices to control and relay communications. IP telephone terminals used in the IP telephone system are cabled by Ethernet or the like, and the telephone system is realized by SIP-based call control and media transfer on the IP network.
When a user starts using an IP telephone terminal, the user's SIP address needs to be registered with the IP telephone terminal. The SIP address registration is a process of associating the SIP address of the user with the SIP address of the IP telephone terminal. In this process, the user inputs an authentication ID, password and the like to the IP telephone terminal. The SIP address registering process has to be performed so that incoming calls for the user can be accurately received, callers can be accurately identified, and extended functions of the IP telephone terminal (such as abbreviated dialing) can be set up for each user. For the sake of users' convenience, the setting may be established to allow for incoming and outgoing calls without requesting the user to input an authentication ID or password, assuming that the SIP addresses have been registered for the default user.
An office-use IP telephone terminal often incorporates therein a switching unit provided with an uplink and a downlink to simplify the cabling around the desk. In particular, the uplink of the IP telephone terminal is connected to the port of the infrastructure switch, and the downlink of the IP telephone terminal is connected to a regular PC or the like. With such connections, the IP telephone terminal and the PC can be used with a port assigned to each desk.
In a free-address office or the like in which desks are not assigned to individual users in a fixed manner, only IP telephone terminals are placed on desks in a fixed manner to be connected to an infrastructure network. Then, a user makes a connection to the infrastructure network by way of the IP telephone terminal from a portable notebook PC or the like that is assigned to each individual. For this reason, the user has to have the connected PC authenticated and also to register a SIP address with the IP telephone terminal to which the PC is connected.
However, in the environment where a PC is connected to the infrastructure network by way of an IP telephone terminal, the SIP address registration has to be conducted on the IP telephone terminal, separately from the authentication conducted on the PC. This complicates the operation of using the IP telephone terminal.
More specifically, when the user wishes to use an IP telephone terminal and a PC at a desk on which the IP telephone terminal is placed, the user has to (1) connect the PC to the downlink of the IP telephone terminal; (2) initiate the 802.1X authentication on the infrastructure network from the connected PC to obtain access grant; and (3) register the SIP address of the user by operating the IP telephone terminal.